


All My Somedays

by Conjure_Lass



Series: You and Me are Going Far [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: A little Angst but we work it out with Love, Emotional Sex, Fluff and Smut, Intercrural Sex, M/M, No Beta, Oral Sex, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day Fluff, all the sap, sap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:14:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29230587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Conjure_Lass/pseuds/Conjure_Lass
Summary: "Someday...There was a time not so long ago when Sora wondered if he was even going to have a someday. When he was frozen in Quadratum waiting for someone to save him. When his heart was scattered to the winds in a million pieces. He'd never given much thought to someday after leaving Destiny Islands because right now always needed him more. No one had ever told him if heroes were allowed to think about their somedays after the smoke cleared."Riku is sending Sora on the perfect Valentine's Day scavenger hunt across the worlds! But nothing is ever all candy hearts and roses; along the way Sora will start to piece together where he wants to go and who he wants to take that journey with.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: You and Me are Going Far [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2146092
Kudos: 38





	All My Somedays

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I'm posting this a little early because I just couldn't WAIT to show it to you! I hope you love it as much as I loved creating it. I listened to a lot of sappy 80's love ballads while writing this, feel free to do the same.
> 
> Quick note: There's no need to read Time Immemorial to get this, but if you like this one, I'm sure you'll enjoy it too. 
> 
> Loves!
> 
> Conjure

Sora wakes up alone. 

This, in and of itself, isn’t unusual. Between his and Riku’s responsibilities, their schedules don’t always line up in a way that's conducive to sharing a bed on a regular basis. Moreover, they haven’t gotten to the point in their relationship where they spend every night together anyway, despite the fact that Sora would one-hundred percent prefer it that way. Frankly, he’d love to sleep curled up to Riku every day for the rest of forever. 

However, his waking up alone on _Valentine’s_ _Day_ is frustrating. He and Riku had spent the better part of the previous evening talking about their plans…or at least Sora had tried to. Mostly it had been him pleading and pouting in an admittedly pathetic attempt to make Riku divulge the day’s plans with little to no success. Something about it being a big secret, something about everything being spoiled if Sora knew about it in advance, something about how much Sora was going to love it. Blah, blah, blah. 

Well…he’d damn well better, because otherwise Riku was sleeping on the proverbial couch for leaving him to wake up lonely on Valentine’s Day. 

Listening to his back crack as he starfishes out, his hand brushes over the other side of the bed to find it cool under his fingertips. Riku has clearly been gone a while, if not the entire morning. It wouldn’t be unlike Sora, who is a notoriously heavy sleeper, to have snoozed right through Riku exiting the bed in the middle of the night. Still, it makes his bottom lip pop out petulantly not to wake up the same way he fell asleep. Nothing chases away the lingering chill of death like Riku’s warm arms around him. Nothing makes him feel more alive than listening to the steady waves of Riku’s heart beating behind his ribcage like a conch shell on the beach. 

Not quite ready to get up, Sora fumbles for Riku’s pillow and yanks it towards himself, burying his face in the fluff with a sigh. It still smells like him, a little like some citrusy fruit, and it makes Sora squirm in pleasure. The past two months since they’d gotten together have been amazing, every day better than the last, even when they were apart. Even the simplest moments, the most mundane tasks, were better than any frustrated fantasy Sora could have ever come up with. 

He has it so bad. 

A soft knock from the door draws his attention, though not enough to make him get off the bed and do anything about it. “Good morning?” he calls from around the pillow, yawning softly, feeling his jaw pop. Everything seems to snap crackle and pop these days, but he guesses that’s what comes from years of battling things the size of mountains.

Without any kind of verbal response, the handle of the door slowly begins squeaking, revealing a bright red head of hair and violet eyes peeking at him from the crack. “He told me you’d still be sleeping,” Kairi whispers intensely, slamming the door open so suddenly that it crashes against the opposite wall with an enormous bang. “Get out of bed, you lazy bum!”

Sora isn’t proud of the piercing scream that pours from his mouth, nor the way he clutches his chest, but screw it. It’s early, so sue him. “Kairi!” he cries, throwing Riku’s pillow at her head only for her to deflect it with ease. “What the hell?! Are you trying to kill me again?!”

“I have been given a task to carry out and not even your slothfulness shall deter me!” she shouts, pointing at him dramatically. “So get your sorry butt out of that bed, put on some clothes and follow me! Your Valentine’s scavenger hunt awaits!”

 _Huh_?

“Huh?” 

“Just get dressed!”

Still not sure what’s going on, Sora jumps up and into his wardrobe, tossing on the first thing he can find that’s clean and somewhat presentable. He’s brushing his teeth as he goes over Kairi’s words: a Valentine’s scavenger hunt? What is that supposed to mean? What was he supposed to be hunting? Was this Riku’s big surprise? Riku had been very cryptic with the small hints he’d given Sora the night before. Only that it wasn’t going to be at the tower and he’d see Riku that night. 

He’s still mulling it over with a piece of toast hanging from his lip when they arrive at the tower’s massive library. Ugh…were they going to be studying?! Not that Sora doesn’t enjoy reading about ancient Keyblade lore or books about magic theory (he likes it when Riku reads them aloud and they practice together) but that doesn’t seem very romantic. Then again, Riku always has been a little strange; maybe old books get him excited? Sora doesn’t really know. They hadn’t gotten all that far yet in the physical affection portion of the relationship. Sure, they’d made out a _lot_ , taken off some of their clothes, grinded against one another a few times, gotten pretty handsy. But in the grand scheme of things, neither of them had been bold enough to really take the plunge and broach the whole…naked sex subject. 

It had, frankly, been something Sora hoped they’d do tonight? Isn’t that what lovers do on Valentine’s Day? Make love? 

Not for the first time, Sora wishes his adolescence had gone a little more typically, a little more according to plan. It isn’t that he doesn’t love his life (he totally does) or regrets his choices (he totally doesn’t), but nothing had gone smoothly and it made it difficult to figure out where he was supposed to be. Weren’t eighteen year olds supposed to have lost their virginity by now? 

When the hell would he have ever found time for _that_?!

“Soooo…what am I supposed to find?” He gazes around the expansive room, at the twists and coils of ancient books and scrolls nestled on towering shelves that spiral to the ceiling. He breathes in the smell of old leather and paper; it was so strong that Sora could still get a whiff of it on himself for hours after leaving if he stayed in the room too long. Starlight shone in through the many tall windows, glittering off the candle sconces and the glass lamps. Riku likes this room; Sora has caught him taking naps curled in the beat up chairs when he didn’t think anyone else was around. And if Sora had spent a few minutes watching him sleep like a total creeper, well…no one had to know, right?

“I dunno.” Kairi shrugs, shoving her hands into the pockets of her pink jacket. “Riku just told me to bring you here and remind you of the time you and he got in trouble for breaking one of Master Yen Sid’s globes.”

The memory makes Sora chuckle. It had been a few months before Christmas and Yen Sid had banished the two of them to the library. Apparently, Sora hadn’t been studying hard enough for the old man’s liking and he’d thought Riku was going to be the one to whip Sora into shape. Yeah, right. It had taken all of forty-five minutes before they were chasing each other around the library, Keyblades in hand, swinging at each other playfully. No one got Riku to forget what he was supposed to be doing like Sora. 

The globe had been an unfortunate victim of their amusement. 

“Yeaaahh,” Sora rubs the back of his head. “He was so mad. We were on dish duty for weeks!”

“Well,” Kairi stretches her arms over her head and moves towards the exit. “I’m going to get back to training while you get to sleuthing. Happy Valentine’s Day, loverboy.”

 _Loverboy_ …

“Shut uuuuppp!” Sora blushes all the way to the tips of his ears and crosses his arms over his chest with a huff. Kairi had been insufferable since he and Riku had gotten together at Christmas, teasing him about it at absolutely every turn. Sure, he rather deserved it considering the circumstances, but she could have eased up on him at this point. It was a good thing he loved her or he would have certainly buried her in the sand by now. 

Geez…

Now wasn’t the time to be worrying about that though, now was the time to find his first clue! The globe that they’d broken had been restored and returned a few weeks prior, placed back on the pedestal they’d knocked it from. That seemed like as good a place as any to start, he thought. Truthfully, Sora was a little worried that he wouldn’t be able to figure out the clues, but Riku had been helping him stop being so down on himself about that sort of thing. He isn’t stupid and he isn’t going to let anyone make him feel that way anymore. 

He passes silently between long tables covered with open textbooks, running his fingers along the smooth wooden surfaces, leaving long trails through the thin layer of dust. The globe in question is actually one of the Land of the Dragons, a beautiful creation of sparkling red jewels, gold filigree and black marble. It makes him smile thinking about his time there, remembering the experiences he’d shared with Mulan and his other friends. It seems like ages ago…

When he reaches the pedestal, he turns the globe with the tip of his finger a few times before noticing a small green book with faded gold lettering on the cover. The title is in a language that Sora doesn’t know, but there is a small piece of pink paper sticking from the pages as a bookmark. The smell of spicy musk greets him immediately upon opening it, striking him with an olfactory memory so strong that he had to close his eyes; the two of them wrapped up together in the dark, Sora buried behind Riku’s ear, breathing him in as if he needed his scent to survive. Riku’s hands up underneath the back of Sora’s shirt, the calloused pads of his fingertips tracing nonsense patterns on his skin. A quiet, warm moment that Sora had filed away for later, for darker times that he knew couldn't be avoided forever.

It turns out the paper is a cut out heart with Riku’s beautiful cursive flowing across it in stanzas that match what appears to be a poem on the page below. Sora dips his head down to rub his nose across the surface and breathes, suddenly realizing Riku spraying his own cologne on the little heart must have triggered his earlier response. It’s unbearably romantic, and Sora is glad he’s alone because he thinks he’s going to swoon a little. 

It’s a long minute before he pulls himself together enough to read the actual poem, and when he does he has to start over three times due to the stopping and stuttering of his heart. 

_I want to be your love for ever and ever,_  
_Without break or decay._  
_When the hills are all flat,_  
_The rivers are all dry._  
_When it thunders in winter,_  
_When it snows in summer_  
_When heaven and earth mingle,_  
_Not till then will I part from you._

At the bottom is a note to go to the Land of Dragons and see Mulan; Sora wonders how long it took Riku to translate this, if he did it by himself or had Mulan help him. In the end it doesn’t really matter, the words echo and ring in Sora’s mind regardless of their author as he runs down the flights of stairs towards where he’d parked the Gummi ship. It won’t take long to get there with warp drive; he wants to be there now. 

He keeps the book though…maybe Riku will read him more of the poems when he sees him tonight.

  
*****

Sora is babbling, but it can’t be helped. 

“You and Shang got married?! When?! What was the wedding like? Do you have any pictures?! The guys are dating _princesses_?!! No way!! Those slobs??”

It’s just been so long since he’s last seen her that Sora’s mouth is running away with him, questions pouring from his lips like the water that he’s currently wading through. Mulan had been given explicit instructions to take Sora “somewhere relaxing”, so they had gone to the koi pond at the Li household, Sora’s shorts rolled up his legs so high that the soft skin of his upper thighs was exposed to the warm sunlight. It reminds him a bit of when he first came out of the pod after his yearlong sleep, which really isn’t a very relaxing thought at all.

“Pictures? You mean like a painting?” she replies, her dark eyebrows coming together in confusion. 

Sora can hear Donald screaming about the World Order as he quickly backtracks. “Oh! Right! Yes! Did anyone…paint you…at your wedding?”

Mulan chuckles softly, tossing a handful of rice into the pond that scatters like flower petals along the surface of the water. The koi descend upon them in a writhing mass of orange, white, and black, pushing and shoving each other amidst a cacophony of little waves that froth around Sora’s knees. He drops a handful of his own rice a few feet away, grinning when a big orange and white one rises to meet the food almost immediately, its smacking mouth agape. There were fish back on the Destiny Islands, but none of them friendly enough to come right up for food. He could feel their little fins tickling his calves as they swam past him underwater, making him giggle and snort. 

“Yes, there was a portrait commissioned, but we haven’t gotten it back yet,” she replies, climbing gracefully from the water to sit on the small deck of the pavilion that juts out into the pond; she pats the place next to herself, motioning for him to come sit. “How have you been? Your lover didn’t offer up much in the way of details beyond you needing a little time to relax. Riku was it?”

Your lover…

Sora blushes and plops down, letting his legs dangle down into the water to feel it swish coolly around his ankles. A warm spring breeze whips up around them, catching pieces of his hair to send it into his eyes. “Yeah, his name’s Riku. I’ve been…fine.”

There isn’t much to say beyond that, because anything more would be giving too much away. Besides that, he really is mostly fine, just…tired sometimes. He doesn’t always sleep well, even with Riku in his bed. Mulan doesn’t seem convinced though, her shrewd eyes scanning his face as her own goes through a range of emotions until it settles on soft compassion. “Are you really, Sora?” she says, and he likes the way his name sounds in her accent. Prettier somehow. 

“I…” he looks at her earnest expression, is reminded of their friendship, and decides on honesty. “I’m just tired a lot. I think about all the…battles and stuff. I bet that’s why Riku thought I needed some relaxation time.”

She nods and gently puts her hand over his, turning to gaze out at the creamy white blossoms of the magnolias that line the tall brick walls of the courtyard. It doesn’t escape him that she isn’t forcing his eye contact, is allowing him the privacy of staring into the distance with her, is giving him that out. He appreciates it. “I think about those things, too. I dream about it sometimes,” she whispers finally, and it’s so quiet that he barely hears her.   
  
It’s funny, but he forgets how much war Mulan has seen, how much she’s endured. If you look at her from the outside, all you see is a gentle, beautiful woman with a dragon’s heart. It’s easy to forget that inside her striking face is a messy tangle of pain and battle and screaming sacrifice. “What do you do?” he begins, squeezing her hand softly. “What do you do when it gets too much?”

Long moments pass before she answers, before her voice breaks the silence. A koi swims up and wraps its mouth around Sora’s big toe, mistaking it for food. “Sometimes I go for long walks. Or I train. Sometimes I come out here. Sometimes I talk to Shang…and he eases my anxieties.”

“Does it work?”

“Not always.” Her chest expands as she takes a deep breath, the glittering silver thread of her hanfu reflecting the sunlight. “But it helps.”

The words remind him of the last time he’d shot awake in the middle of the night, clutching at his pounding heart as though to keep it from escaping his chest. Sora has many nightmares, but the most prominent one is being dead again, is the endless battleground of Quadratum, the hopelessness of his lost voice. The last time it had happened, Riku had opened up his arms and held Sora for hours while he shook apart and came back together, promising him over and over in a trembling voice that Sora was alive…that they were both alive. 

Mulan was right. It didn’t fix it…but it helped. 

They sit in comfortable peace for a long while, watching the dragonflies launch themselves between lotus blossoms and bamboo leaves, watching the koi leap from the water in an attempt to catch them congregating near the surface. They idly chat about what Mushu has been up to, what the guys are up to, what Shang is up to, what Donald and Goofy have been doing. It’s normal in a way that Sora hasn’t been in a long while, and he silently thanks Riku for a lovely beginning to his Valentine’s Day. 

Speaking of that though…

“Hey, Mulan?” He reluctantly pulls his legs from the water and crosses them underneath himself. “Did Riku leave anything with you? About where I’m supposed to go next?”

She snaps her fingers as though remembering something and produces a bag from a small table nearby. “Indeed he did!” She holds it out for Sora to take. “Here! You’re to take this to the hottest, driest place you know.”

Inside the bag are about two dozen different sized stones, each one relatively flat and worn smooth, as though they'd been buffered by the ocean until they were like a pile of shiny black mirrors. Sora holds one up in the sunlight, catching the reflection his blue eyes. "What are these?" he asks, testing the weight of one in his palm, rubbing the pad of his thumb along the surface. 

Mulan shrugs, standing up to brush off the front of her skirt. "I don't know. He didn't actually say. Do you know where you're meant to go?"

Despite the simple nature of the question, Sora can't help but feel it has a double meaning, as though Mulan weren't simply talking about where he was going today. Sora takes a moment to mull it over, realizing he...hadn't really thought about it much. Where was he meant to go? What was he meant to do? He'd been so focused on the past, so focused on what he'd done, that he hadn't given much thought to where he was going. 

Not until he and Riku got together had he even given the future a second though. 

"I..." He rubs the tip of his nose. "I'm not sure."

"Well," she reaches her hand down for him, smiles in a way that makes him feel warm in his chest. "Why don't we finish feeding these greedy fish while you sort it out."

*****

  


Sora is pretty sure he's melting.

Originally, this had been due to the unbelievably hot trek through the desert he'd been forced to take to Agrabah. God forbid he disturb the World Order and park the damn Gummi ship at a reasonable distance that didn't involve hiking through burning sands. It isn’t as though Jasmine doesn’t already know about other worlds from when she was kidnapped to one of them. 

Now? Now he's melting because every muscle in his entire body is relaxing all at once, leaving him a puddle of calm, tranquil peace. 

Jasmine had hugged him so tightly upon his arrival that he'd thought she was going to break a rib, her voice ringing like bells as she tugged him to what Sora could only describe as a spa. White mosaic walls reflect uncountable numbers of candles onto the grey marble floors and into the shallow baths, shining like stars on the surface of the water where dozens of Tiare flowers float softly. It had smelled so strongly of home that his eyes had watered a little bit at the scent.

"Where did you get those flowers?" he asks, his voice slurring with drowsiness despite his best attempts at staying conscious. It's difficult though. The marble platform he's laid out upon is cool under his belly, the stones he'd received a delicious warmth all the way down his spine. He shifts, feeling his chest glide along the stone, every inch of available skin slathered decadently in Monoi. It makes him blush a bit, being so spoiled. He hasn't been so covered in oil since childhood, when his mother used to douse him in it after a bath; it reminded him of rest and safety. 

Jasmine's voice is equally sleepy, echoes a little against the walls. "Riku gave them to me after saying how sorry he was about fourteen times." She's on the other side of the room, but even from here, Sora can hear her amusement. "That was certainly the most...robust apology I've ever received."

Sora chuckles, opening his eyes to slits so he can look at her. In the past Riku had mentioned wanting to go to each world he'd kidnapped princesses from to apologize, despite Sora arguing that none of them held a grudge. Still, Riku was insistent that it was something he needed to do for himself and Sora understood. "Was it over the top?" 

"A bit."

Still chuckling, Sora watches as Jasmine stretches her lean arms high over her head, letting them dangle off the platform in front of herself with a pleased huff. She's beautiful, even moreso than the last time he'd seen her; married life agrees with her, happiness agrees with her. It seems as though everyone has gotten married since the last time he's seen them. Everyone is moving on with their lives, getting on with things, journeying towards the future.

Where does that leave him...?

"Are you sure it's okay that we're in here like this?" He's a little concerned that it will be considered inappropriate for her and him to be half-dressed in a spa together; he worries a bit about what people will think. "Won't people talk?"

She sits up, one eyebrow raised up high, her hand coming out in a dismissive gesture. "Let them talk. I'm helping a dear friend have a romantic day. I will do as I please."

Nodding, Sora idly reaches up to play with the Tiare flower behind his left ear. "How do you do that?" he wonders aloud, stretching out his toes a bit. He's not quite certain how to put what he's trying to say into words, the confidence he sees in Jasmine's eyes. The certainty of self. After everything he's dealt with through the years, and as strong as Sora's heart might be, he's still always questioning his own worth, his own sense of who he is. He's a hero and he saved the universe and he wields a Keyblade...but beyond that sometimes he wonders who “Sora” actually is. "How are you so...you?"

Raja chooses that moment to wander in, padding silently on huge paws over to Jasmine who rubs long fingers between his ears. "What do you mean?" 

"How are you...you? Not just Princess Jasmine or...Aladdin's wife or whatever? How are you yourself?"

The question seems to set her back a bit, her dark eyes scrutinizing him; it reminds Sora of when Riku is working through his thoughts, trying to come up with the right thing to say. Eventually she slides off her table and moves towards him, her delicate hands moving as she speaks. "For a long time I didn't know. Was I a princess? Was I half of a couple?" Her voice starts softly, gently, but as she continues, the confidence in what she's saying grows until she sounds sure and resolute. "Who is Jasmine? But the more choices I made for myself, and the more I focused on what I wanted, the clearer the picture of myself became. Am I making sense?"

"Didn't you feel selfish?" he replies softly, moving muscles that feel like jelly into the semblance of a sitting position. The stones that had lined his spine fall in a crackling torrent to the floor below, some rolling into the nearby pools to make small ripples in the water. Raja chases the rest across the floor, batting at them like a giant kitten in a way that makes Sora giggle. The moment fades though, and he sobers quickly. "Did you worry you were letting people down?"

He imagines telling King Mickey or Master Yen Sid that he doesn't want to be a Keyblade Master anymore. Worse yet, Riku. It's painful to imagine the disappointment on their faces, the way they'd look at him. And why shouldn't they look at him that way? A few years ago he wanted nothing more than to be a hero forever, but after everything that had happened, Sora is starting to feel...differently. 

"Sometimes." Jasmine interrupts his thoughts, reaches out to run the tip of her finger along the flower at his ear. "But who I am and who others think I am are not the same. I must fulfill my responsibilities my own way. As must you."

Sora's breath catches in his throat, his eyes stinging painfully. It isn't that he regrets any of his choices; he'd make them all again if presented with the same circumstances. Yet something about Jasmine's words ring true in his heart, the unshakable feeling that who he is and who everyone else thinks he should be don't exactly line up anymore. That they absolutely did once upon a time, but that this chapter of Sora the Hero's story might just be ending. He would never resent any sacrifice he’d ever made or any role he’d ever taken on in a million years, only that he feels as though he's ready to become more. 

Or maybe less. Would it be so wrong if he just...stepped back for a while? Just lived his life and tried to figure himself out? Whatever that life might be?

One small thought tickles at the back of his mind though. A big, terrifying thought that he'd rather store away in a box and never look at again. "What if," he starts in a whisper, pressing his lips together. "What if I become someone Riku doesn't love anymore?"

Cheek suddenly encased in warmth, his face is tilted to meet Jasmine's eyes; he doesn't even know when he lowered it down. Everything about her is firm in the way she is forcing their gazes to lock, demanding he see her sincerity. No hiding this time. "There is no way to be sure. But I don't think that there is any version of yourself you could become that he would not love."

"Really?" The word is barely a sniffle, small and unsure. It's been a long time since he's allowed himself to feel so tiny. 

"Absolutely." Utter assuredness. Complete faith. It eases him as they breathe together, chests rising and falling in unison until Sora feels himself relax again, the tears retreating. "Now, come. We will wash and I’ll send you on your way. You are to go where your hearts sing together."

Well...that clue is easy...

*****

  
Sora has never felt particularly attractive.

It's not that he thinks he's ugly by any means, only that when he looks at himself in the mirror he doesn't exactly see someone swoon-worthy. That being said, being adorned with piles of flowers and berries isn't something he's really used to. He'd tried to tell the little cherubs that they didn't have to make such a fuss over him, but when they'd looked at him like he'd just killed their best friend, he relented. Now he was lounging in a squishy glen of periwinkle moss, staring up into the crimson and violet leaves dancing above his head as the cherubs dropped grapes into his waiting mouth. 

As nice as this is, it's a bummer he's not a centaur though. It would have been cool to be a centaur. 

"Pretty, pretty," a little cherub says, its tiny wings somehow keeping it aloft in front of him. It pats both Sora's cheeks with its chubby hands and repeats itself until Sora is blushing profusely. "Pretty, pretty."

"Stoooop," he laughs, rolling his eyes. "I'm not."

Two beautiful centaur girls, one pink and one green, trot into the thicket near the waterfall, each one carrying the handle to a massive basket of flowers that he's assuming are for himself. It's hard to communicate with them sometimes since they don't actually use any language that Sora knows; very few in this Symphony of Sorcery world do. Everything is the swishing of violins, tinkling of bells and the tooting of horns. He wonders how Riku got them to agree to do this for Sora at all; he makes a mental note to ask later. 

They lay the basket in the plush fuchsia grass, motioning for him to look and pointing to his hair, the deep sound of cellos accompanying their gestures. So he's supposed to pick? They're all unbelievably beautiful, a perfect pile of asters, anemones and yarrow, their perfume so strong that he feels a little lightheaded. He dips in his hand, watches how they part like water, waves of purple and white sliding between his fingers. 

Blinking up at the two centaurs, he smiles and waves his arms around in an "all encompassing" way. "I can't choose!" He cups his hands into the flowers and draws out a huge pile. "I like them all!" 

Despite the language barrier, the two of them (and the dozen or so cherubs) seem to understand him perfectly, clapping their hands to the sounds of cymbals and drums. Sora claps along with them, wishing he could make music the way they do. 

But...doesn't he though?

If he concentrates hard enough, quiets the ever-present cacophony of his mind, he can just barely make out the sound of he and Riku's heartsong on the rustling breeze. The tender strings soar against the rising of the piano, the horns bellowing out strong and clear. He focuses on it as the centaurs begin to brush out his hair, feels it build up in his body like rainwater in a banana leaf until it spills out from between his parted lips in a rushed exhalation. 

He feels the hands in his hair pause, as though their owners can hear the song as well; he opens his eyes to find them staring at him in a way that could only be described as astonishment. The pink centaur's deep magenta eyes are watery, her dainty fingers pressing to her heart before reaching out to barely touch against Sora's a moment later. He smiles at her, takes a moment to breathe and let their song fill the air, wishing more than anything that Riku could share this moment with him. 

An impromptu concert with their hearts as the maestro.

That's when it starts. A pleasant prickling that burns through every pore in his body, glorious tingling that sizzles up his legs all the way to the tippy-top of his beflowered head. It's as though he's wrapped up in the best metaphysical hug in the entire universe, feels breathtakingly beautiful, like he's worth more than every world combined. He's not even sure the feelings are his own or not until worshipful devotion, like sun-warmed honey oozing straight from the comb, infuses him with heat and trickles out of his eyes in a few happy tears.

Riku...

"Riku..." he whispers, scrubbing his cheeks with the back of his hand. He hadn't known they could do something like this, silently wishes he knew how to reciprocate properly. Maybe he already is and doesn't know it? Maybe this feeling isn't something that Riku's doing intentionally either. It wouldn't be the first time they'd accomplished something like this without trying. 

Maybe it can only be done here in this world, which makes it...pretty special in Sora's eyes.

The green centaur with aquamarine curls the color of Riku's eyes is alternating between petting his head and finishing the task, cupping her chin thoughtfully towards the end, studying her work. When she apparently decides they're finished (a flourish of flutes and piccolos) she waves the cherubs forward with a brushed copper mirror, motioning elaborately (triumphant French horns this time) for Sora to examine himself. 

What he discovers is no mere daisy chain, no basic flower crown. This is a veritable wreath, a magnificent garland, practically a mane of sumptuous blossoms that don't just enthrone him...they _anoint_ him. Royal purple asters are stitched into the hair at the base of his skull, covering his neck all the way up to his temples where anemones are playfully arranged between his spikes so that it's as though the blooms grow from Sora himself. The yarrow, tiny petals like drops of snow, carpet the crown of his head in a small puddle, a shining circlet of white against the chestnut of his hair. 

He is...radiant.

It takes him a minute to figure out what to say, especially to two women who speak in music, especially when he feels so suddenly overwhelmed. His throat is tight with emotion, but it doesn't hurt, feels more like flying.

" _Thank_ you."

The pink centaur paws the earth with her front hoof, looking bashfully at the ground below. She seems shy after hearing his and Riku's song, and it occurs to Sora that perhaps it's considered very intimate to share what he did with them. Like sharing a private love poem or a cherished memory. It occurs to him that perhaps she really does find him as lovely as he does them. 

"Thank you _so much_."

Two cherubs hefting a simple bottle of wine between them awkwardly flutter to him, depositing the drink in his lap with a muted thud. Immediately afterwards they flop down into the moss, panting and wheezing as though the effort had nearly done them in. Sora pats each of their heads in gratitude and opens the note tied around the neck of the bottle...

_You know who would make good use of this?_

Sora does indeed.

*****

Sora finds out Little Chef's name is actually Remy and feels incredibly stupid. 

It's baffling to him why he hadn't thought to ask before; if the rat knew how to cook, surely he could tug Sora's hair into writing out his proper name in strawberry compote on the countertop. Sora thinks it looks like a murder has taken place, but it feels nice to be able to call the little guy by something other than a title. 

"Are you sure it's okay to be taking up so much of your time on Valentine's Day?" he asks, glancing nervously over at the half-full hamper of food being meticulously prepared as he licks the strawberry goo off his index finger. He can hear the sounds of conversation and laughter in the bistro outside, watches as the wait staff bustle in and out of the kitchen carrying trays of food and bottles of wine. It seems unfair that he's taking up the time of the restaurant's star chef on such a busy night. 

"Nonsense, laddie!" Scrooge comes in carrying a small, ribboned box that he hands to Sora with a wide smile. "It's no secret to me of what you've done for this world. I think giving you a special night is the least we can do as thanks. Here. Your beau gave me this!"

Scrooge apologizes for not being able to spend more time as bustles back out into the main dining area, leaving Sora with the box and his confusion. Upon looking inside, he finds what appear to be...puzzle pieces? Perhaps twenty-five large pieces in all that he can only assume are meant to be put together as a clue. They look handmade if their condition is anything to go by, the edges jagged and rough, as though Riku had cut them out from poster board with a pair of scissors. 

Riku never had liked art class. 

Puzzles are not exactly Sora's thing. It isn't that he can’t figure them out, only that he doesn't have the patience for them. If Donald and Goofy hadn't been there, Sora is sure he would currently be an ice-pop somewhere in Larxene's labyrinth. This is a little different though; since he's so invested in the prize, it only takes him a few minutes to get the picture back together on one of the spare counters. 

It's...a window. What appears to be a small, second-story window in a small orange building? What could that possibly mean? He's running his fingers along the outside edges of the frame, thinking it looks very familiar, when a pair of whiskers tickles against his finger. "Huh?" he looks down to see Remy pointing outside, across the street.

_Outside...a few weeks prior..._

_"Who do you think lives in that building up there?" Sora asks, raising up his glass of wine to clink against Riku's. The atmosphere on the bistro patio is calm and peaceful, the breeze cool as it whips Sora's hair back from his face, bringing with it the smell of the bruschetta they were sharing. He tips his head back to stare at the window, stretches out his legs to let his foot brush against Riku's ankle._

_"I don't know," Riku sips his drink and gives Sora a contemplative sort of smile. "Who do you think lives there?"_

_Sora isn't sure, can't really picture it, but what he can picture is them. He can see himself coming home to find Riku in an apron that falls off one perfect shoulder, burning something at the stove. He can picture them reading naughty pirate novels on the couch, curled up in a nest of blankets, trading kisses in the dark. Holding each other in the night, waking up together in the morning. He can imagine waiting for Riku at the door, happy to see him every single day. He can picture having a place that's theirs, just theirs. No Keyblades, no missions, no wars, no one trying to kill them every other week, no one complaining how immature Sora is or how this-or-that behavior isn't "becoming of a Master"._

_Raising up his glass, he gazes at the window through the domed reflection, through the sparkling white wine that bubbles up the sides. "I wish we lived there," he whispers longingly, though loudly enough for Riku to hear. "I wish we had somewhere to get away from...everything. Just me and you."_

_Multiple emotions flash across Riku's face very quickly, eventually settling on warm adoration, sweet happiness. "Sora," he chuckles softly. "We don't even share a room at the Tower yet. I mean...would you really...?"_

_Sure, that's true. They've only been dating a little more than a month and it makes sense that moving in together would be taking things somewhat quickly. But...Sora has loved Riku for years. Sora has died. Nothing seems hasty anymore when you're living your second life; he wants to live his life right now._

_"Maybe," he sighs, turning back to reach his hand out for_ _Riku to take. Their fingers intertwine in a warm line of happiness. "Ignore me, I'm just being silly. What would everyone think, us moving in together after a month?"_

_Riku squeezes his hand hard enough to draw his attention fully to Riku's face. "Not so silly," he says gently, bringing Sora's bruised knuckles (he'd gotten into a little fight with a heartless in the Toy Box) to his lips for a kiss. "And I couldn't care less what they'd think. Yours is the only opinion that really matters. I want to make you happy."_

_"You do..."_

_Uncle Scrooge cuts their conversation short, coming out to dote upon them, the thread of the discussion lost in another..._

Now...

"Oh yeah!" Sora snaps his fingers, noticing they’re still a little sticky. Gross. "That's the place across the street!"

Remy nods and scampers back over to climb on the top of the basket, signifying its completion. Sora must have really been lost in his thoughts, because in the interim someone had completely finished it, all the way down to stuffing the bottle of wine he'd gotten from the cherubs into the netting on the side. 

He guesses he's ready to go!

The hamper is surprisingly heavy as he picks it up, stopping only briefly to give his and Riku's thanks to Uncle Scrooge before crossing the street. Looking up, he can see that the window he'd pointed out previously was open, can see a curtain blowing inside, catching a soft glowing light. Around him people are making their way through the endless twilight of the town, couples cuddled together waiting for a seat into the bistro, having champagne out in the courtyard, buying each other ice cream in the square. It's been a long day of indulging, but he's ready to spend the evening with Riku.

He’s glad that time flows differently in different worlds. It gives him more time here, more time in this moment.

Once he’s inside he finds a trail of soft pink petals lining the floor, leading him like breadcrumbs up the stairs. He bends down to pick one up and put it in his pocket as a memento of the night. Their first Valentine's Day. It doesn't take long to get to the door once he thinks of that, as there only seem to be four flats inside. 

Apartment 4-D, Hug Bridge Road. 

He knocks. 

*****

  
Sora thinks he could kiss Riku all-day, every day, and never get bored.

“S-Sora!” _Kiss_. “Did you like--?” _Kiss_. “Babe, let me look at--” _Kiss_. “You!” 

They’ve been at this for at least five minutes, Sora having pretty much pounced Riku the moment he’d opened the door. Sora hadn’t even looked into the apartment, hadn’t done anything but wrap his arms around Riku’s neck and pull him into kiss after kiss after kiss. Their food is getting cold and he doesn’t care, they might spend the whole night in the doorway and he wouldn’t mind. He just wants to kiss Riku until neither of them can breathe.

Eventually though Riku grabs him by the shoulders and gently pries them apart, his lips and cheeks the same blushing shade of pink. His eyes are shiny and big as he takes stock of Sora, gives him a good once over from head to toe. Sora isn’t quite sure what he’s so enamored with; he’s not wearing anything particularly nice, just the pair of linen pants and shirt that he’d gotten from Jasmine. Riku is wearing the same, his hair pulled back in a loose ponytail at the back of his neck, a few stray strands falling around his eyes. They match in that they look like they’re ready to spend the night lounging, neither of them dressed up in the least.

“Oh, Sora, look at you,” Riku whispers, cupping Sora’s cheeks in his big hands, warm palms against Sora’s skin. “You’re _beautiful_ …”

Cheeks aflame, Sora tries in vain to disagree, but finds he can't even form a complete sentence as Riku ducks back behind his ear to run the tip of his nose along the curve. It shocks him silent. “You smell so good,” Riku continues, whispering tiny praises that set his stomach flip-flopping and head spinning. If this is going to be the whole night, Sora is going to pass out before the halfway point. 

“Everything was so amazing,” he finally squeezes out, hugging the other man close, swaying them back and forth. “You spoiled me.”

“Oh, that isn’t the half of it.” Riku raises a mischievous eyebrow, grabs both of Sora’s hands to pull him into the apartment. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Sora…”

That night out on the patio, when Riku had asked what he thought this flat was like, Sora really hadn’t given it a lot of thought. Now, as he gapes around the apartment at what Riku has put together for them, he’s glad he never did. Nothing would have compared to this…

The room is a simple studio flat, with warm brick walls on all sides that rise up high to the exposed wooden beams on the ceiling. A small kitchen is nestled in the left corner, a tiny island covered in candles and roses separating it from the rest of the space. The light that Sora had seen from the window is at least a hundred white candles, scattered around the dark hardwood floor so their flames reflect and dance in the mirror perfect polish. They lead and encircle a bed on the other side of the room, a fluffy mattress covered in white bedding, framed by tall windows that Sora hadn’t been able to see from the street. It's set up against a rod iron headboard with fairy lights dangling in dipping loops from the ceiling fan above. Sora can just barely see pictures of himself and Riku, printouts of texts, selfies he’d sent Riku during his journeys all pinned to the wires with golden clips.

It’s…

“Perfect.”

Sora scrubs at his eyes, goes back to fetch the hamper he’d left out in the hallway to give himself a second to pull it together. “You’ve outdone yourself,” he jokes, calling to Riku who is moving to sit down on a cushion at the short table set up near the window. “We’re going to be ninety and I’m going to joke that you’ve never been able to top our first Valentine’s.”

Shrugging dramatically, Riku casts a tiny blizzard spell on the wine bottle Sora deposits on the table. “I know,” he sighs, popping the cork. “I’m an overachiever like that. So what did Little Chef make us?”

“Did you know his name is Remy?!” 

“Sora, rats don’t talk.”

Sora gives Riku a withering look. “One of your best friends is literally a giant talking mouse, Riku.”

“Touché.” 

Ten minutes later Riku is apparently feeling just as stupid as Sora had, repeatedly asking why he’d never thought to do that in all these months and wondering how long Remy was going to let them call him Little Chef. Sora shrugged, setting out a small charcuterie board with little noises of curious appreciation at the different kinds of olives and cheeses and rolled up meats. It looked like the main course was some kind of flakey fish and risotto, which suited them both fine. But for now he grabs the nearest piece of toasted bread and shoves it and a piece of cheese into his mouth.

Riku laughs. “Did you eat at all today? I would have thought someone would feed you.”

“The cherubs fed me some grapes!” he says around a mouthful of sausage, taking a deep breath before pausing. “Hey…speaking of that…”

“Hmm?” Riku is licking hummus off his thumb, the bubblegum pink of his tongue distracting Sora so badly that Riku notices the pause and smirks. Is it warm in here? It feels like it’s getting warm in here. Must be all those candles. 

“Could you...feel me? Y’know, in your heart?”

Riku’s interested silence prompts Sora to keep going, trying to evoke how he’d felt when what he thought were Riku’s emotions in the Symphony of Sorcery overcame him. How it had overwhelmed him with joy to know that he was experiencing someone else’s feelings about himself. After around ten minutes of trying, he realizes how difficult (not to mention ridiculous) it sounds to explain how you _recognized_ that the reactions were not your own. In Sora’s case, it involves a lot of hand waving and half-formed noises of frustration. How could he explain to _Riku_ what “Rikuesque” felt like?!

“Well,” Riku rests his chin in his palm, bats those pretty eyelashes. “Not to be a total sap, but I can always feel you in my heart.” 

“Rikuuuu--”

“However, if you’re meaning something specific, then no. I don’t recall anything like what you’re describing.”

This discovery is slightly disappointing, as Sora was secretly hoping they had some kind of magical ability (beyond the DreamEater link, which was mostly a sleep-only thing) to feel one another’s emotions. Maybe it really was unique to the Symphony of Sorcery. He states as much to Riku who nods in agreement, suggesting they go there together sometime in the future, to overwrite the unpleasant memories of before. 

The future…

Sora sighs softly, watches Riku take a bite of his lemon risotto with his eyes closed, and thinks of how nice this moment is, how much he’d like to have more of them. A lifetime. Riku’s mention of the future spurs thoughts of earlier in the day, of Sora’s discussions with Mulan and Jasmine. It makes him feel a fluttery nervousness in his belly, the anxiety of words left unsaid. This is hardly the time to discuss any of that, but he’d made Riku a promise to stop keeping things to himself anymore. Still…he doesn’t want to ruin their night…

“That was not a happy sigh,” Riku says, putting down his fork, wiping his mouth with his napkin. “What’s wrong, hon? Did something happen today?”

Something _did_ happen today, but Sora isn’t quite sure what that _something_ is. He flounders for a few seconds, pushing his meal away from himself, before taking a deep breath. Riku’s eyes are burning into him, entirely focused on Sora and his internal struggle. It’s the same look Riku has always given him, the only difference now is that Sora knows how to interpret it while back in the day he hadn’t a clue. Now that he knows, its intimacy makes him squirm a little, in both pleasure and discomfort. 

He never wants Riku’s eyes on anyone but himself. He never wants to spend one day without him. He never wants them to be separated again. 

Ever.

“Riku,” he starts, looking down to where he’s clenching his hands in his lap. His instincts are screaming at him to shut up, be quiet, don’t spoil things. Nevertheless, if he doesn’t say this now, he’s not sure when he’ll have the courage again. He looks up. “When you…think about the…future? What do you see?” 

The question seems to take Riku aback, his silver eyebrows coming together in thought, his jaw a little slack. He looks a bit afraid to answer the question, and that fear makes Sora’s anxiety rise up in his throat so suddenly that he's about in to tell him to forget about it altogether when Riku finally speaks. 

“I,” Riku runs his hand through his bangs, blowing them from his eyes. The strands glitter a little in the candlelight, true silver, like starlight. “I guess there are lots of things I could imagine myself doing. Lots of paths I could follow, but…”

But? But, what?! Sora wants to reach across the table and shake the words out of him. Anything to assuage the horrible twisting of Sora's gut. Usually he loves the slow, thoughtful way that Riku speaks, the way he mentally plans every word, every sentence…but right now, Sora just wants him to _spit it out_! 

“But...no matter what they are…I’m always just…with you.”

Always with you…

That's the crux of it, isn't it? Sora may not have a solid idea of where he wants his future to take him, may be a little fuzzy on the details, but the one detail that remains the same is who is right there beside him. In all of Sora's fantasies, in all of Sora's idle daydreams, Riku is always with him. Whether they be sailing on the Leviathan or trudging through the jungle, Riku is his constant companion. None of the rest of it matters so much as that, all of it can be rearranged around that one, guiding, northstar focal point. 

“I don’t want to take the Mark of Mastery exam again,” Sora blurts out, loudly slapping his hands over his suddenly sweltering face so that Riku can’t see his expression. It doesn’t help. He can still hear the way Riku moves towards him, knows he's coming to comfort him, to figure out what’s wrong. Riku is, if nothing else, a problem solver. Once he sees a goal, nothing gets in his way.

But Sora isn't finished. 

"I don't know who I want to be anymore, Riku." Voice shaking, Sora takes a few deep breaths to calm himself down, to boister his courage and keep himself from panicking. This is important; he shouldn't hide from it or try to take it back. This is the truth, he feels it all the way to the bottom of his heart. "I just...don't know if I want to be everybody's hero anymore."

Finally, with purpose, he lowers his trembling hands, expecting to be met with shock or disappointment. Instead what greets him is one of the most gentle, peaceful smiles he's every seen grace Riku's perfect, perfect, _perfect_ face. Riku has made it halfway across the floor to Sora's side, one hand palm up on the tabletop, waiting for Sora to take it. It's a welcome invitation, one that Sora quickly accepts despite how sweaty his hands are. Riku is here and real; it makes Sora feel here and real. 

"Are you okay?" Riku asks tenderly. "How long have you been thinking about this?"

That's a good question. One that he isn't sure he has a good answer for. He hasn't been actively thinking about it for all that long, but the feeling has been unnamed in his heart almost since his return from the dead. The feeling of wrongness, the feeling of something being misplaced, of going in the wrong direction. He and Riku getting together had corrected the course somewhat, but not all the way. Niggling in the back of his mind, buried in his heart, was...something...

"A while," he whispers, worrying at his bottom lip. "You're not...upset?"

Spurred into action, Riku crosses the rest of the distance to wrap his arms around Sora in a bone-crackingly tight hug. He can hear the other man's heart beating rapidly where his ear is suddenly pressed to it, fluttering and nervous. 

" _No_ ," Riku says. And behind that one word is a sincerity that takes Sora's breath away, the utter conviction enough of a balm to last him a lifetime. Not another word has to be spoken for Sora to know how Riku feels, though he knows this is far from the end of the conversation. Talking about his future with Riku actually sounds nice, like they're planning things, putting together the pieces of their puzzle together. "Sora, why would you ever think that would upset me?"

"I dunno," Sora starts a little pathetically, blinking watery eyes upward. He's determined not to cry on Valentine's Day; you're not supposed to cry on Valentine's Day. "I've just spent so much time talking about it over the years. I don't want to disappoint you. Or anybody else."

"Oh, babe...you could never disappoint me. Being a hero or a Keyblade Master or any of that stuff is just...icing on the cake. None of it is why I love you, Sora."

"Really?"

"Really," Riku kisses his temple, rubbing a soothing hand up and down Sora's back. "And if anyone else is disappointed? They can deal with me."

That makes Sora giggle and playfully shove Riku's shoulder before leaning up to rub their noses together. "Oh, you're going to be my knight when I tell Master Yen Sid, huh? He's going to shit his robes."

"Honestly? I'm looking forward to it."

Childish laughter bubbles up from both of them at that, happy and warm, the atmosphere easing. Sora closes his eyes and takes another deep breath, letting it out slowly through his nose. Aqua had taught him a few deep breathing exercises in the past months, something she said she used herself since coming back from the Realm of Darkness. She called it "self-soothing", but Sora knows for a fact that's a term people use for babies and he's not a damn baby so he's not calling it "self-soothing". 

His brief meditation is interupted by Riku reaching out with both hands to cup his face, eyes urgent, as though he's trying to convince Sora with everything he has. "Seriously, listen to me, okay? I am with you no matter what you do or who you decide to be. You have already given this universe one life...you are not obligated to give it another."

He isn't...?

Tears are dripping hot over his knuckles before Sora even realizes that his hand is over his mouth, trying without success to keep himself from overflowing. No one has...ever said that to him. Not in all the time he's carried the Keyblade has anyone told him he is not actually required to do this. That he has some kind of choice in the matter. It's always been destiny-this and fate-that. Never once has anyone mentioned that maybe fate and destiny could kiss his ass for a while. 

He's accepted fate for so long, never questioned it. Surely he's entitled to a bit of downtime, right?

Riku is fussing over him again, the pressed lips and drawn brows saying that he's not sure he's done the right thing or not, that he's having a hard time interpreting Sora's tears. Understandable, considering Sora is also having a hard time interpreting Sora's tears. "It would be really nice to just be a guy for a while," he sniffles, wrapping his arms up underneath Riku's arms to draw him close, to feel the muscles and strength of his back.

"You will never be just a guy," Riku whispers, leaning down to kiss him, a chaste, sweet thing that has Sora's pulse picking up a bit regardless of intention. He glances over at the bed surrounded by its dozens of candles and thinks...he's been pretty good tonight. Wouldn't it be okay if things turned a little spicier? It's Valentine's Day. 

Suddenly determined, he's about to lean in and do just that, lead the evening in the direction of that fluffy mattress, when his stomach decides this is the moment to grumble angrily. The sound echoes up into his mouth to bounce off Riku's, and it's all Sora can do not to melt into the floor in embarrassment when his boyfriend pulls away to chuckle and scratch fingers through Sora's spikes. "C'mon, let's finish dinner before you starve to death."

Not exactly the "hunger" he wants to feed, but it'll do for now.

Two fire spells (and a briefly panicked water spell) later their meals and desserts are properly reheated, and Sora is making the most indulgent yum-yum sounds ever with each bite of flakey fish. It's one of those things he's discovered drives Riku up a wall and Sora can never resist winding him up a little. 

Mmmmmm...

"I go through all this trouble and that's how you treat me," Riku shakes his head and pulls two small ramekins out of the basket. Sora watches, utterly enraptured, as Riku tips each one of the perfect little lava cakes onto two perfect little plates. "You're a brat."

"Unbecoming a Master, I know."

Now, chocolate cake is one of Sora's favorites on a normal day, but this confectionary masterpiece is enough to make him moan in utter delight at the first bite. Remy is a genius. It's so gooey and warm and everything a cake should be. Sora wants to faceplant in it, take a bath in it, dive into a whole pool of it and swim around. It isn't until he looks up at Riku's face that he realizes he might have actually been making a few of those aforementioned noises out loud...

Very few things are as lovely as Riku's blush, the perfect salmon color that dusts his face like icing sugar. It always makes Sora want to sink his teeth into those cheeks just to see if they're as sweet as they look. "Rikuuuu," he purrs, licking a bit of stray chocolate from his pinky finger. "What are you thinking about, Riku?"

Riku's gaze darts away, readying some excuse or doubt, but Sora cuts him off with a boldness that surprises himself. "You know you're allowed to think about me like that, right? I think about you like that."

"I know, but..." Riku gestures a little. "We're having a nice meal and I don't want to...y'know...it's just..."

Sora does know. Throughout these last two months, Sora has often found himself the initiator in terms of their intimacy. He doesn't mind. Because he knows it isn't that Riku doesn't want to, in fact he often really, really does and is very enthusiastic once they get started. He just seems consumed with a lack of confidence or a disbelief that his affections are not just requited but actively desired. Sora wants Riku. He wants him in every way there is to want another person, mentally, emotionally and physically. 

Now if only he could convince Riku of that. 

"Tonight has been wonderful, hasn't it?" Sora sighs, offering a spoonful of cake to Riku who nods and leans in for the bite, eyes darkening over the spoon as he sucks off the chocolatey goo. "The whole day has. I wish we didn't have to go home and just stay here."

Multiple things happen at once. Riku, who had been happily lapping at Sora's spoon, nearly chokes on his own spit and jerks away violently while at the same time wearing the most guilty expression Sora had ever seen. And considering the way their past had gone, and how often Riku feels guilty over nonsense, this is really saying something. "Riku!" Sora is tempted to give him the Heimlich maneuver with the way he's hacking and coughing, but within a few seconds he's pulled himself together enough to speak. 

"Um," Riku starts, then stalls, putting down his own spoon with a noisy clatter. "Yeah, about that..."

"Going home?"

"Um...yeah..."

"Aw man!" Sora knows he's pouting, can feel his bottom lip jut out. "Did my warp drive break again without me noticing?!"

Riku shakes his head, his face purposefully blank. "No."

"Did your warp drive break?"

"No, no, no!"

Last try. "Did the...Tower disappear...?"

"Sora!" Riku's voice has an edge; it stops Sora's rambling in its tracks. He takes a long, deep, shuddering breath. "No, babe...okay, promise you won't be mad?"

What a strange turn of events. There's nothing Riku could have possibly done that would make Sora angry tonight. He's literally been the most adoring, loving boyfriend in the history of boyfriends today. Sora's thoughts are kind of all over the place at this point, trying to figure out what Riku could be so worried about. 

"I...promise?" he says finally, scooting around so that he can rest his palm on Riku's knee. "What's this about?"

Riku begins softly and Sora has to strain to hear him, years of explosions making his hearing a little on again off again in terms of quality. "It's just, you looked so happy thinking about this place, and when I found out that it was for sale..."

For...sale...??

Sora's heart is beginning to pound, Riku's words starting to click into place. But he doesn't interrupt, doesn't want to stop Riku now that he's gotten going. 

"I just want to make you happy, Sora." Riku looks up at him, seemingly having found his courage by the thinnest of threads. "So, after we were here a few weeks ago...I took what munny I had saved up over the last few years and...put a down payment on it. Here. For us."

"You w- _what_??!"

His words are nothing short of a verbal explosion, an excited exclamation, his voice ricocheting off the walls like a shot. It occurs to Sora in retrospect that his outburst could be construed negatively, but in the moment his shock is too much to contain with anything short of thrilling disbelief. Riku had...bought this place? For them?! He had taken Sora's musings so seriously that in just a few weeks he'd pooled his resources and bought them a home?! 

"Riku!" he shakes his head, hands coming up to wildly flail around where words were failing him. "Rikuuuu!"

"We don't have to move in right away!" Riku is drawing back, obviously taking Sora's tone of voice to be disapproval. "Or ever if you don't want to! I'm sorry! I thought you'd--!"

Sora is plowing his way into Riku's arms mere seconds later, drawing him down into such a hard kiss that he thinks he might have bruised his lips. It takes a few stunned moments for Riku to respond, but when he does it's eagerly, tipping Sora's head back to seal their lips together until they both have to pull away and gasp for breath. 

"Tonight."

"W-what?" 

"I don't want to spend one more night in the Tower." He clenches his fist in the back of Riku's hair, swallows down any lingering nerves. "I want to wake up here tomorrow. With you."

"But we don't have any--!"

"I don't care!" Sora presses his face into Riku's neck, takes a deep breath of his scent and knows he's making the right decision, that this is where he's meant to be right now. He knows it like he knew he was going to save the universe, like he knew he'd save his friends, like he knew he'd bring Kairi back. He knows this is what he wants and woe be to the person who stands in his way this time. "I don't care if we don't have much or if people will think we're moving too fast. I don't want to wait anymore to live my damn life! How could anything we do be too fast now?!"

"B-but!"

"I _love_ you." He hears the determination in his own words, the utter conviction like before a battle. Who knows...maybe it's the tone of Sora's voice that convinces him, maybe he's just as overcome as Sora and is simply better at controlling it. Either way, Riku is trembling with restraint in his arms, taut like a bow string before release, every muscle tense under Sora's fingertips. 

"God, I love you, too."

With that whispered declaration, Riku seems to snap, lunging in to claim Sora's mouth with a ferocity that belies his earlier self-control. He tips Sora's head, pulling away to whisper those words again before darting back in to nonverbally declare ownership of Sora's lips again and again and again. Mine, mine, mine. With each kiss Sora feels himself heat up, like he's running a fever, wishes they were wearing less so his clothes wouldn't feel so humid and sticky.

"Riku. Listen to me. Take me over to that bed, lay me on my back and put your hands all over me. Do you hear me? Right now, Riku." 

A deep shudder racks Riku's whole body, his gaze going wide and unfocused, breath catching audibly. Sora has only the briefest of instants to wonder at the reaction before he finds himself lifted bodily into the air, Riku's hands strong underneath his thighs. 

"Yes, _sir_."

Riku reaches for the window as they make their way past it, flicking it closed with a decisive click. The sound makes Sora's belly click as well, do little flips, makes him feel a little dizzy. "You don't want anybody to hear me?" he whispers in Riku's ear, flicking his tongue along the curve, feeling Riku shiver against him. "You think we're gonna be loud? That people are gonna hear me from the street?"

"That's the plan," Riku replies, though he sounds a bit distracted. It's only then that Sora notices the tap-dance routine he's having to do between all the candles on the floor. "These might not have been a good idea..."

Eventually Sora is deposited on the bed with a tiny bounce, scooting up towards the pillows until he's nestled right where he wants to be. The mattress is squishy underneath him, just the right amount of give, the pillows soft and fluffy and smelling of Riku's lavender laundry detergent. The thought of what it's going to feel like against his naked body makes him bite his lip, makes his heart speed up a little. 

If they ever get that far. 

As of now they're just staring at each other, Riku knelt at the foot of the bed, frozen to the spot. "C'mon, love." Sora opens his arms wide, his smile even wider, all warm invitation. "We're wasting twilight."

Determined, Riku reaches back and tugs his shirt up and over his head, his hair coming loose around his face as he slinks over Sora's body to his mouth. This kiss, when it lands, is more intense than the ones before it, open-mouthed and messy, makes Sora squirm under all that delicious weight Riku is pressing him down with. He gasps when hands tickle up his ribcage, not stopping until Sora's shirt is off and tossed in the same direction Riku's went. 

Mental fireworks explode in Sora's head as Riku's tongue does something amazing to the roof of his mouth, sets his head spinning so hard he thinks he's going to float away. He can't help but want more, spreading his thighs wider in an attempt to non-verbally convey the point while simultaneously getting a bit of friction going. God, Riku's hips fit perfectly between his; the two of them are pieces of a dovetail, meant to slot together just like this. 

They break apart for air, Riku biting at Sora's chin before trailing lips along his jaw, over to his ear to bite at the lobe. "As tempting as this is," he rotates his hips pointedly against Sora's, grinds them together in a way that draws a sharp gasp from Sora's throat. "There's something I've been thinking about for a while."

"A while?" Sora repeats a bit mindlessly, feeling tingles dance up his spine from where Riku is pressing and pulling in a rhythm that has Sora's thoughts flying off the proverbial rails. Unthinkingly, he reaches down to try to get a handful of Riku's ass, help him along, feel that luscious curve Sora's been admiring all this time in his hands. He cheers mentally when he gets it. "Thinking?'

"Mmmmhmmmm." The smirk in Riku's voice is audible. "More like fantasizing."

"Fantasizing?"

So caught up in everything, Sora scarcely notices Riku's fingers trailing down his belly until his dick is being cupped and rubbed in a burning hot palm. "Ahhh! Riku!" Sora tries to keep the sound in but it escapes through his teeth anyway, physical touch mixing deliciously with the heady idea that Riku's hands are so big they can engulf him nearly entirely. He's fantasized about Riku's big hands, about how they'd circle his hips and cup his butt. 

It's all new and exciting and Sora is going to humiliate himself by passing out any moment. 

"I want to suck you," Riku whispers directly over his heart, and the heated rush of those words on to of the firm squeeze he gives Sora's dick is...ethereal. It makes him shudder all over, reach one hand up to tug restlessly at his own hair while the other goes to Riku's to pet him, reassure him that this is what Sora wants. In fact, Sora is relatively certain that he's never wanted anything more in his entire life than Riku's mouth on his...on his...

He doesn't want to come prematurely, but everything is pointing in that direction. It's all so much.

"Oh my god! Riku, I...I..."

"Is that okay?" Riku sounds a little unsure now, urging Sora to look down at him with little bites along the waistband of his pants. All the while his hand hasn't stopped moving against Sora's cock, hasn't stopped the slow ministrations that are so close to sending him over the edge he thinks he's going to die. "We don't have--"

Sora moans loudly, awkwardly patting the top of Riku's head a few times before moving down to impatiently shove at his own pants, trying to get them down. He huffs and growls when his shaking fingers don't succeed, and his frustration makes Riku sputter and chuckle, which is turn makes Sora calm down a little and chuckle along with him. Soon they're both giggling softly, which takes a little pressure off the moment, makes him feel less like he's just been flung off the world. "Sorry," he says, taking a deep breath. "That just sounds..."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Sora shoves up on one elbow, rubbing the bottom of his thumb along Riku's pouty lower lip, sliding it into slick warmth then back out again, in and out, in and out. With each retreat he can hear the way Riku's breath catches, can feel him flicking his tongue against the pad. "I want your mouth on me." 

"Okay," Riku says, the tone of his voice more like he's trying to encourage himself than Sora. "Right. Yeah, okay."

With an utter reverence that makes Sora blink back tears, Riku glides his pants and underwear down his legs in a single go, kissing the inside of each knee on the way. The waistband catches on Sora's erection for a moment, smearing precome all over his belly when it bounces back to rest. Finally, with what feels like a silent thunderclap, Sora finds himself completely naked, fighting the urge to cover himself in modesty. 

"Oh, Sora." Riku looks overwhelmed, eyes wide and watery as he gapes down at him as if he were a masterpiece, like he's something precious, the most perfect jewel. "You're so beautiful."

Even though most of his blood is down in his dick, Sora still manages to feel himself blush, barely even able to look at Riku through his lashes. He's never _felt_ more beautiful than right now, flowers tumbling from his hair to halo his head, naked as the day he was born, hard and sweaty and wanting and ready. 

"You too?" Sora motions towards Riku's own pants, at the erection tenting them. 

It doesn't take Riku as long to get the rest of his clothes off as it did Sora's, and he makes a mental note to have the older man strip for him sometime just so he can actually savor the experience. Because Riku's body is...unbelievable. Of course, Sora's eyes are immediately drawn downwards, to the deep pink cock hanging heavy and leaking between pale thighs covered in snowy hair, but literally everything about Riku is gorgeous. It is no surprise whatsoever that he has grown into a body like Adonis. 

Sora is still trying to process how godly Riku looks and how lucky he is when the other man scoots down to situate himself where he needs to be. Instantly every thought in Sora's head comes to a screeching halt, handds fisting in the pillows beside his head as he etches the sight of Riku, right there with his face between his legs, into his memory _forever_. 

"Breathe," Riku whispers, and Sora can feel his hot breath fan the underside of his cock; it makes him buck up, suddenly impatient, sweat breaking out on his forehead where it wasn't before. "I'm going to make you feel _so_ _good_."

Sora bites his lip when Riku's long fingers wrap around the base of his dick to maneuver him around, struggling not to sound as utterly desperate as he really is. It's hard though when he sees Riku's face, the rapt concentration mixed with an almost giddy delight that is both endearing and unbelievably arousing. It's as if Riku can't believe he gets to do this. Like this is all he's ever wanted. All that razer sharp single-mindedness, usually reserved for battle, now all focused on Sora's pleasure, on Sora's body. 

It's intoxicating. 

He gives up the struggle for silence at the first swipe of Riku's tongue. There's no possible way to be quiet with how it swirls shyly around the head of his cock to dip into the slit before trailing back down. He can feel every inch of Riku's lips as they suckle along a vein, saliva dripping down the length to catch in his pubic hair. Finally, finally, finally Riku spreads those lips and takes Sora in, that first burst of suction enough to make him cry.

" _Oh_." Sora gasps, throwing his head back, groping unseeingly to the headboard behind himself, wrapping his fingers around the rods so tightly it almost hurts. Everything is so hot, it's like his blood is blazing lines under his skin, his hair sticking in clumps to his temples. " _Oooohhh_ ~!!' 

His thighs fan out further without him realizing, so wide it must be obscene, but he doesn't care. Riku is inching his way down the shaft, rubbing under the head with the flat of his tongue, suckling in exploratory little surges until he establishes a good rhythm. "Oh god, just like t-that..." he moans, reaching blindly down to grab the back of Riku's neck, trying desperately not to clutch his hair too hard but knowing he's not entirely succeeding. 

Surprisingly, Riku moans in reply deep in the back of his throat, making Sora cry out and buck at the way it vibrates all the way down his dick to settle in the base of his spine. It urgently burns, spasms, then burns some more as the other man's hand moves in tandem with his mouth, fist meeting his lips in the middle to spin and twist wetly before journeying back down. 

God, what a pretty picture he makes when Sora finally opens his eyes from where he's squeezed them shut. Lips puffy and pink, spread wide and slick, curtains of silver falling in his face with each frantic bob of his head; Sora pushes a lock of it back behind his ear with shaking fingers, drawing those aquamarine eyes up to meet his own. They stare at each other for long moments, Sora panting frantically, feeling his abdomen tighten with coming release, Riku looking somewhat in awe, spacey, as though he's on the verge of climax just from pleasuring Sora. 

"So good, you're so good," he purrs, nodding at Riku encouragingly who gives him another rumbling hum as a reward. Breath stuttering, he thrusts his hips up in time as Riku descends, watching as his cock disappears and reappears, listening to the messy sounds that seem to be echoing off the walls. "Ahhhh! Don't s-stop. Don't...R-Riku...!"

As much as he'd like to hold on, as much as he'd like this to go on all night, there is no way in hell that Sora is going to last much longer. He's too inexperienced, too excitable, too overcome with emotion and sensation to last more than these few brilliant minutes. He can feel himself tightening up all over, his legs shaking around Riku's head, toes curling until they nearly cramp. He feels like a piano wire vibrating a held note...right there...right there...higher, higher, _higher_...

"Oh, god Riku!" he cries out, head thrashing from side to side sending flowers scattering all around him, the sound of fabric tearing near his ear where he's ripping at the fabric. "I'm g-going...ohhhh god...yesyesyes...make me...!"

It happens in a split second. 

There's a brief moment where Sora's sure he's dying again, where he feels his back snap almost painfully as his orgasm rushes over him in a torrent that leaves him screaming. In all the times he's touched himself, in all the times he's come...it has never felt like this. It's so good that it almost hurts, so devastating that he loses track of everything else, so intense he feels tears prickle at the corners of his eyes. Through it all he can feel Riku working him, not giving him a moment to rest, a moment to _breathe_. He guides Sora through the pleasure with mouth and hands until it breaks over him one last time in a cresting wave, emptying him out until he's utterly spent and whimpering. 

Honestly? He's probably never going to want to do anything else. Ever. 

Rising up on his knees between Sora's legs, Riku gasps for air and pushes his sweaty bangs from his forehead, wiping at his chin where a few drops of Sora's come splashed. "Babe, that was...," he says breathlessly, crawling up Sora's body to nibble lightly at his still-trembling mouth. Sora can taste himself when they part, a tangy saltiness that he leans up to lick from Riku's lips. "You were so..."

Sora doesn't let him get any further, pulling himself together just enough to reach down and take Riku's cock in his hand, finding it still hard and leaking. "You too, Riku," he demands, giving the length in his hand a few firm strokes. "Wanna see you come, too..."

"Not like that," Riku grunts, shaking his head, drawing himself from Sora's grasp with a broken off groan. He pauses, looking unbearably young and shy and sweet, barely able to meet Sora's eyes. "Can I?" He swallows nervously as he reaches down to dip his fingers lewdly between Sora's sweat-soaked thighs in an unspoken question. For a moment, Sora is wildly confused. Does Riku want to...put it inside him? Really, he's not certain he's ready for that, and is about to say so when Riku answers his question without it being asked. 

"Between your thighs." Riku worries his bottom lip, managing to blush darkly despite him having just had his mouth around Sora's dick. "I want to...between your legs..."

If Sora hadn't just come, he probably would have been achingly hard again right on the spot. Riku wants to...do that...to his thighs? Put it there? He takes a long moment to picture it, tries to imagine what it would look like, what it would feel like. "Will that...get you off?"

Riku kisses him, nodding enthusiastically. "God, yeah. You just...hold them together tight and I'll do the rest?"

"...all right."

Giddy like a kid at Christmas, Riku manhandles and maneuvers Sora (and isn't that just a huge turn on) until his ass is snug against Riku's bent knees, legs held verticly and tight together, ankles crossed and slung over one of Riku's shoulders. "You okay?" the older man asks when he seems to have himself composed, turning his head to kiss Sora's foot gently. 

An eager nod, and Sora stares enraptured as Riku slowly pushes his cock through the space between his thighs, watches Riku's head tip back with an impassioned moan. It's...a little weird at first, the feeling of hard flesh sliding through his legs, seeing the tip of Riku's dick poking out, dripping precome with each push. However, after a few thrusts, listening to the fervent, throaty moans pouring from Riku's throat, Sora decides this is one of the sexiest things he's ever done. Granted, he hasn't done much, but this is definitely in the top three. 

"Sora!" Riku runs his hands down Sora's calves, scraping his nails along the skin. "A little more, babe? P-please?"

Ohhhhh, the sound of that word, the power it makes Sora feel, is like a drug. It makes him want to do anything for Riku, give him everything, conquer the whole damn world if thats what it takes to make this proud man beg him for more. He does as he's asked, gauging the right pressure by studying Riku's face for the proper reaction; he grins when Riku begins to hiss and cuss and shake. 

"Good?" Sora breathes, reaching up to the headboard again to hold himself as still as he can when Riku's thrusts become harder, rougher, start to shove him up the mattress. He loves the way the sheets are rubbing against his back, the way Riku's dick feels like a solid line of heat throbbing against hsi skin, the strength of his body slamming into Sora's. "Is it good, Riku? Do you like it?"

" _Yeeeessss_!!" Riku wraps both his arms around Sora's knees for even more leverage, pulls them in hard and begins to tremble. "F-fuck, Sora!!"

Now this...this is The Moment.

It isn't the first time Sora has ever seen Riku come, but it may as well be. Because as amazing as Sora's own orgasm was, nothing in the universe is comparable to knowing Riku is allowing himself to be seen like this. Utterly fallen apart. The knowledge that he has shown this side of himself to no-one else and never will. That this Riku belongs to him. Forever. This Riku, drenched in sweat, face scrunched up, Sora's name a moaning prayer on his lips. 

He is magnificent and he is _HIS_. 

Sora gasps, shaking fingers clamped over his mouth, as Riku's come shoots over his own spent cock with his final thrusts, like a splash of heat on his belly, painting white tiger stripes all over his inner thighs. He's never felt so simultaneously possessive and claimed. He never knew he could feel this way. 

He loves it. 

Riku collapses into Sora's waiting arms, instantly lining them into a single seam despite the fact that they're both a sticky mess. None of it matters as they hold each other, rolling back and forth as they kiss each other's sweaty faces, making pathetically love-struck noises the entire time. Nothing is so important as running their hands all over each other's bodies, soothing one another's labored breathing and racing hearts. Sora, for his part, doesn't think he's capable of anything more than single syllable words at this point, but he uses them wisely in murmuring his love to Riku repeatedly and ardently. Riku is pretty much speechless, but in the absolute best way. 

He's glad they shut the window...

Long minutes pass before they've composed themselves enough to peel apart (eeeewwwww) and get a good look at each other. Sora isn't sure what he looks like, but if Riku's disheveled hair and flushed face are anything to go by, he's probably in the exact same state. This ravished, satisfied look is a good one on Riku, which Sora proceeds to tell him. 

"I could get used to seeing you like this too," Riku murmurs, brushing the back of his fingers along Sora's cheek.

"You were so good," Sora replies bashfully, never one to withhold praise where it was so very clearly due. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd had some practice. 

He expects Riku to blush a little, maybe feign a bit of modesty, perhaps divert the compliment. What he doesn't expect is the outright humiliated expression that quickly flashes across Riku's face before he glances away to sputter and cough. "What? What's that face about?" Sora wheedles, craning around to follow his eyes, digging fingers into Riku's sides playfully.

"Well, about that..."

Wait...oh, no...Sora's heart sinks, his voice coming out small. "Have you done that to...someone else?"

"NO!" Riku is so quick to correct him that he nearly gives Sora whiplash, capturing his cheeks in his palms. "No, no, Sora! I've never wanted to to that with anybody but you!"

"Then what--?"

"I..."

"Tell meeeeeee!" Sora whines. 

"Ipracticedonmyvibrator!" The words are spoken so quickly that they blur together, but Sora manages to pick out the important parts. He'd practiced...on a vibrator. _His_ vibrator. The knowledge that Riku even _has_ a vibrator is enough to make Sora's brain explode, but knowing he'd spent time sucking on it specifically with Sora in mind is enough to make him catatonic. At some point in the past two months since they got together, Riku had found enough time alone to become surprisingly proficient in sucking dick. He'd practiced specially for when they eventually did this. 

He had said he'd fantasized about it, hadn't he? Had he been...touching himself while he sucked...

"Oh my god," Sora breathes, trying to unstick his thoughts from where they've gone into an endless loop of picturing Riku sucking a vibrator with his hand down his pants. "You..."

"Don't laugh, okay?" Riku is blushing all the way to the tips of his ears. "It was worth it, right? I was good...right?"

There aren't words to answer that, so Sora doesn't try. Instead he lunges forward, crashes their lips together and proceeds to spend the next ten minutes kissing the life out of Riku. In the brief moments they break apart for air he murmurs all the praise he can think of, of how good Riku is, how lucky Sora is, how amazing it all was, how hot it is to imagine Riku practicing like that, how much Sora wants to watch him do it again. That last one seems to get Riku particularly hot, and Sora is pretty sure they're heading for round two when the come and sweat sticking to their bodies makes the most disgusting sound he's ever heard. 

"That was a lot sexier when we were actually having sex," he complains, pushing Riku's shoulder when he starts to laugh. "It was! Go get me something to clean up with!"

"Why me?!"

"Because my legs are still too wobbly to walk, jerk! Consider it a compliment!" 

Sora doesn't miss the smug look on Riku's face when he crawls off the bed and makes his way to the bathroom, the sound of water running a few moments later. Sora listens, feeling his eyelids get heavy, as Riku washes and dries off, the sound soothing and domestic. These normal things aren't something they get to do very often when they're at the Tower. The fact that they have their own home to do so now...

"What's that smile for?" Riku leans into the line of Sora's vision, a bowl of water and some towels in hand, his smile just this side of coy. "It's a new one."

"This is our _home_ ," Sora whispers, and Riku's shy smile blooms to cover his entire face, eyes crinkling up it becomes so wide. "Yours and mine."

"Yep." Riku motions to the bowl. "Wash up and get in bed. I'm going to put out all these candles so we don't burn our new house down and be with you in a minute."

"Kay!"

It feels great to be clean, or at least as clean as he's going to get for now barring an actual shower, and by the time he's gliding into the covers he can feel a bone-deep exhaustion suffusing his entire body. Vaguely, he remembers demanding they go back to the Tower that night and get their things, but with the way he's feeling he knows it's a lost cause. Every muscle in his body is unwinding as he watches Riku move naked around the room, his mind slow with satisfaction and happiness and love. 

With the last of the candles snuffed, the only light left is the fairy lights looping above, dangling overhead like a mobile. Sora hadn't realized it earlier, but if he stretches out his arm he can easily snag the pictures and little pieces of paper. It's then, upon gazing fondly at the shots (him in Arendelle pinching Donald's beak, Riku and Mickey taking an afternoon nap, him in San Fransokyo hugging Baymax, him in Corona hugging Rapunzel) that he notices a few folded up notes. 

"What are those?" he questions as Riku settles in beside him, nestling down to rest his cheek on Sora's chest after throwing his arm around his waist. Sora draws him in with the crook of his elbow, moving one hand to run through Riku's hair, kissing the top of his head. "The notes?"

"Pull one down and find out," Riku replies cryptically, his voice barley above a whisper. 

"You really planned out every little detail, didn't you?" Sora tugs one down, unfolding it to read.

_Sail the Caribbean in that pirate ship you've told me so much about._

Sora blinks, glancing over at Riku who is smiling at him in a gentle way that makes his heart skip. "Keep going," he says, glancing upwards. 

_Climb the North Mountain (for a fourth time) together._

Sora chuckles at the memory of telling (read: complaining) Riku about how many time he and Donald and Goofy had climbed that damn mountain. It was totally worth it to slide back down on Goofy's shield, but in the moment it was ten shades of annoying. He imagines it would be more fun with Riku though, maybe they could even go back into that stupid labyrinth. 

_Spend all morning in bed memorizing your lips, get up for brunch, then go right back to sleep._

"Are these...," Sora begins unsteadily, rubbing his thumb over Riku's delicate handwriting, rereading them again. "Are these things you want to do? Together?"

Riku nods, plucks one of the higher notes that might have been beyond Sora's reach and hands it to him without a word.

_Marry you someday in front of all our friends and the universe we saved._

Someday...

There was a time not so long ago when Sora wondered if he was even going to have a someday. When he was frozen in Quadratum waiting for someone to save him. When his heart was scattered to the winds in a million pieces. He'd never given much thought to someday after leaving Destiny Islands because right now always needed him more. No one had ever told him if heroes were allowed to think about their somedays after the smoke cleared.

Maybe now...now he was allowed a someday. And Riku...wanted to marry him in it. 

"Shhh, shhh, hey, c'mere." He must look close to falling apart again because Riku scoots up and pulls Sora into an embrace, wrapping his arms around him. Safe. Calm. Right here. Right now.

"Do you really?" he says, smiling up into Riku's blushing face. "Do you really, Riku? What if I just want it to be the two of us?"

"Sora! Are you suggesting we run away together and _elope_?!" His voice is dripping with fake scandal and amusement. 

Sora laughs, sniffing haughtily "Maybe I am. We could just send them some selfies of all our honeymoon destinations."

Silver eyebrows coming together in thought, Riku tips his head from side to side as though rolling the idea around in his mind. Back in the day Sora might have liked a big wedding with a big crowd, but as he's grown up he's come to appreciate the quiet and the still. The thought of marrying Riku, somewhere down the line, in total privacy? Just the two of them and their vows to each other with only the universe as their witness?

Sounds... 

"Fair enough," Riku finally replies, rolling Sora onto his back to kiss him, dip his tongue back behind Sora's teeth for a long taste. "As long one of them involves you spread out naked on a beach, I don't care where we go. I've had that fantasy since I was like...fourteen." 

"We can't send them selfies of that!"

Riku chuckles, a dark, playful sound as he licks a trail behind Sora's ear. "Oh, no...those pictures will be for me."

"Riiikkuuu, you voyeur!"

It's a long time before they settle down again, even longer before they finally fall asleep...

But they really have all the time in the worlds...

*****

[Epilogue]

Sora is pretty sure it's morning.

Granted, it's hard to tell with the eternal twilight thing, but as they walk through the crowds hand in hand, kids bustling to get to school, people going about their daily lives, Sora can only assume night has passed. They stop at the bistro for a quick cup of coffee (they got nearly no sleep) and to ask Scrooge and Remy if they needed any extra help back in the kitchen now that Sora and Riku are going to be permanent residents. Though Sora isn't particularly skilled, he'd enjoyed cooking with Little Chef so much that he thinks he might like to give it a full time try. 

At least for a while. 

"We'd love to have ye!" Scrooge crows, looking over at Remy who is nodding enthusiastically. "You two are nesting across the street, eh? Ahhh, to be young and in love!"

Sora flushes and nods, glancing over at Riku who is doing much the same. Quickly making their excuses to avoid any embarrassing questions, they head in the direction of Sora's ship and what promises to be an exciting, if slightly stressful day.

"You ready?" Riku asks as they wait for the trolley to pass by, giving Sora's hand a squeeze. "We can put it off if you're not. There's no rush."

"Thank you," Sora leans up on his toes to kiss Riku's cheek. "But no. I'm doing this today. _We're_ doing this today."

They're heading down into the sewer tunnels (Sora had parked his ship near the old mansion) when a flurry of noise and sound from the street above catches their attention. Side-stepping quickly, they're very nearly bowled over by a group of masked men carrying rucksacks running past them, yelling and pointing. Sora is about to give chase himself (only robbers wear masks and carry rucksacks, right?) when a flash of green cargo pants and a black shirt overtakes them from behind.

She jumps effortlessly to avoid Sora and Riku, flipping herself onto an oncoming trolley before looking back at the pair of them. "Sorry!" she calls, flipping a lock of red hair over her ear, winks one green eye. "I'll get it sorted in a cinch!"

" _Wait_!" Sora calls. "Who are you?!"

"Kim!"

Before he can ask anything else she's vanishing along with the rest, leaving behind the smell of ozone and a whole lot of confusion. What the hell was that?! Fate has a funny way of moving the pieces where they need to be, and he has a feeling he might eventually find out. 

But for today?

"Do you want to try to follow her?" Riku asks, and Sora almost considers it, almost falls into that heroic role without thinking.

"Naaah," Sora replies finally, wrapping his arms around Riku to give him a decisive, deliciously destiny-free kiss. 

"Let fate sort itself out for once. I'm busy."

Fin!

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise! It's Kim Possible. I've always wanted Sora to meet her in game, but who knows...I might write it myself instead. ;)
> 
> Hope this made you happy. :) See you around!


End file.
